Refrigerator and method of manufacturing ice maker therefor

ABSTRACT

According to an embodiment, an ice maker comprises: a main body having a cooling space supplied with the cold air generated by a cooling module; an ice making assembly comprising an ice tray arranged in the cooling space to generate ice, a cold air guide module disposed at a lower side of the ice tray and configured to guide the cold air supplied from the cooling module to the lower side of the ice tray, and a rotation module configured for rotating at least one of the ice tray and rotating an ejector for ejecting the ice from the ice tray; an ice bucket disposed at a lower side of the ice making assembly configured to receive the ice from the ice tray; and a full ice detection module. The full ice detection module comprises a first sensor coupled to a lower portion of the rotation module and a second sensor coupled to a lower portion of the cold air guide section, and detecting whether or not the ice bucket is full of the ice by operative interconnection of the first and second sensors.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No.10-2015-0086161, filed Jun. 17, 2015, hereby incorporated by referencein its entirety.

FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a refrigeratorand a method of manufacturing an ice maker therefor.

BACKGROUND

A refrigerator is an appliance for storing food at low temperature, andmay store food in a frozen or refrigerated state according to the typeof food.

The interior of the refrigerator is cooled by continuously supplied coldair, and the cold air is generated through heat exchange withrefrigerant by a refrigeration cycle performing acompression-condensation-expansion-evaporation process. The cold airsupplied into the refrigerator is evenly transferred to the interior ofthe refrigerator by convection and thus the food in the refrigerator maybe maintained at a desired temperature.

The refrigerator typically has a rectangular main body which is open ata front surface thereof. The main body may have a refrigerating chamberand a freezing chamber therein. The front surface of the main body maybe disposed with a refrigerating chamber door and a freezing chamberdoor, for selectively opening a portion of the refrigerator. Therefrigerator may include a plurality of drawers, shelves, and storageboxes, etc., in order to optimally store various foods in an internalstorage space of the refrigerator.

Conventionally, a top-mount type refrigerator, in which a freezingchamber is located in the upper portion and a refrigerating chamber islocated in the lower portion, has been used. In recent years, abottom-freezer type refrigerator, in which a freezing chamber is locatedin the lower portion, has been also developed in order to increase userconvenience.

The bottom-freezer type refrigerator has an advantage in that it isconvenient for a user to frequently utilize a refrigerating chambersince it is located in the upper portion and the relatively less usedfreezing chamber is located in the lower portion. However, thebottom-freezer type refrigerator is inconvenient for user access to icein the freezing chamber because the user has to bend over to access thefreezing chamber.

In order to resolve this problem, another bottom-freezer typerefrigerator in which a dispenser for getting ice is disposed in therefrigerating chamber door located at the upper portion of therefrigerator has been recently developed. In this case, an ice maker maybe disposed in the refrigerating chamber door or within therefrigerating chamber.

The ice maker may include an ice making assembly which generates ice andincludes an ice tray, an ice bucket which stores the generated ice, anda transfer assembly which transfers the ice stored in the ice bucket toa dispenser.

Specifically, the ice made by the ice making assembly may be dropped,into and be collected in, the ice bucket located beneath the ice tray.The conventional ice maker includes a detection lever, a sensor, or thelike capable of detecting whether or not the amount of ice collected inthe ice bucket exceeds a predetermined amount. The ice maker may becontrolled such that the ice maker is stopped when the amount of iceexceeds the predetermined amount.

However, since the conventional detection lever (or sensor) has a verylimited ability to detect ice, there is a problem in that the amount ofice collected in the ice bucket is not accurately detected.

In addition, the sensor is mounted to the ice maker equipped with aplurality of components in a small space, and the ice maker iscomplicated to manufacture.

SUMMARY

Therefore, embodiments of the present invention address and solve theabove problems, and it is an object of the present invention to providea refrigerator including an ice maker capable of accurately detectingwhether or not an ice bucket is full of ice.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method ofmanufacturing an ice maker for a refrigerator, in which a full icedetection module is readily mounted to the ice maker.

According to an embodiment, what is described is a refrigeratorcomprising: a case having a food storage space; a cooling moduleconfigured for generating cold air and comprising a compressor, acondenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator; a door disposed on thecase to shield the food storage space; and an ice maker disposed in atleast one of the food storage space and the door, wherein the ice makercomprises: a main body having a cooling space supplied with the cold airgenerated by the cooling module; an ice making assembly comprising anice tray arranged in the cooling space to generate ice, a cold air guidesection disposed at a lower side of the ice tray and configured to guidethe cold air supplied from the cooling module to the lower side of theice tray, and a rotation module configured for rotating at least one ofthe ice tray and an ejector for ejecting the ice from the ice tray; anice bucket disposed at a lower portion of the ice making assembly andconfigured to receive the ice (e.g., dropped) from the ice tray; and afull ice detection module comprising a first sensor mounted to a lowerportion of the rotation module and a second sensor mounted to a lowerportion of the cold air guide module, and detecting whether or not theice bucket is full of ice by optical and/or operative interconnection ofthe first and second sensors.

Further, wherein the first sensor is inserted into a first mountingportion disposed in the lower portion of the rotation module, and thesecond sensor is inserted into a second mounting portion disposed in thelower portion of the cold air guide section.

Further, wherein the first and second sensors are mounted at diagonalpoints on a rectangular portion of a plane formed by a back surface ofthe ice tray.

Further, wherein the cold air is supplied into the cooling space througha discharge duct, and the cold air guide module extends from at leastone surface of the discharge duct.

Further, wherein the cold air guide module comprises: a first cold airguide member extending from an upper surface of the discharge duct; anda second cold air guide member extending from a lower surface of thedischarge duct, and wherein the second cold air guide member is spacedapart from a back surface of the ice tray, so that a cold air movementpassage is formed between the back surface of the ice tray and an uppersurface of the second cold air guide member.

Further, wherein, the first sensor is a light-emitting sensor and thesecond sensor is a light-receiving sensor.

According to an embodiment, what is described is a method ofmanufacturing an ice maker for a refrigerator, comprising: manufacturingan ice maker comprising an ice making assembly, an ice bucket, and atransfer assembly; mounting a first sensor of a full ice detectionmodule for detecting whether the ice bucket is full of ice, to a lowerportion of a rotation module of the ice making assembly, and mounting asecond sensor of the full ice detection module to a lower portion of acold air guide module of the ice making assembly; adjusting a positionof the first sensor mounted to the rotation module and a position of thesecond sensor mounted to the cold air guide module, wherein the firstsensor is optically and/or operatively coupled to the second sensor; andassembling the transfer assembly to one side of the ice bucket andassembling the ice making assembly to an upper side of the ice bucket.

Further, wherein, an ice tray for accommodation of water or ice isdisposed at an upper side of the cold air guide module; and the firstand second sensors are mounted at diagonal points of a rectangularportion of a plane formed by a back surface of the ice tray.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of thepresent invention will be more clearly understood from the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a refrigerator according to an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating an ice maker in FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the ice maker inFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a planar cross-sectional view conceptually illustrating theice maker in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating an exemplary method ofmanufacturing the ice maker according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described belowin detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In certainembodiments, detailed descriptions of relevant constructions orfunctions well known in the art may be omitted to avoid obscuringappreciation of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a refrigerator according to an embodimentof the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional viewillustrating an ice maker in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspectiveview illustrating the ice maker in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the refrigerator 1 according to theembodiment may include a case 2 defining an external structure and/orappearance thereof, a barrier which divides a food storage space andpartitions the case 2 into an upper refrigerating chamber R and a lowerfreezing chamber F, refrigerating chamber doors 3 disposed at both frontedges of the case 2 to selectively open and close the refrigeratingchamber R by rotation thereof, and a freezing chamber door 5 whichfunctions as a front opening portion of the freezing chamber F. Althoughan ice maker 10 is illustrated as being disposed at one side of an upperportion of the refrigerating chamber R in the embodiment, this is by wayof example only. Alternatively, the ice maker 10 may be installed at adifferent position in the refrigerating chamber R or in a differentplace such as the refrigerating chamber door 3.

The ice maker 10 disposed in the refrigerator 1 is capable of detectingwhether or not an ice bucket 320 is full of ice. The ice maker 10 mayinclude a main body 100, a cooling section (not shown), an ice makingassembly 200, an ice bucket 320, a transfer assembly 400, and a full icedetection module 500.

The main body 100 of the ice maker 10 has a cooling space 105 in whichice may be generated. The ice making assembly 200 is disposed at anupper side in the cooling space 105 and the ice bucket 320 may bearranged at a lower side of the ice making assembly 200.

The cooling module functions to generate cold air and supply the coldair to an ice tray 210. The cooling module includes a compressor, acondenser, an expansion valve, an evaporator, etc. which perform acooling cycle. The cooling module generates cold air by exchanging heatbetween a refrigerant and air as is well known. Cold air may be suppliedto the ice tray 210 through a discharge duct 310 and a cold air guidemodule 220 by a blower or the like.

The ice making assembly 200 includes an ice tray 210 which receiveswater, a cold air guide module 220 which guides the flow of cold airsuch that the cold air supplied from the cooling module moves along aback surface of the ice tray 210, and a rotation module 230 whichrotates the ice tray 210 to drop the ice into the ice bucket 320.

The ice tray 210 provides a space in which water supplied from a watersupply pipe (not shown) or the like is cooled to produce ice, and has aplurality of ice forming spaces formed on an upper surface thereof toaccommodate water. The forming spaces may have various shapes accordingto the shape of ice to be made, and the number of forming spaces mayvary.

The ice tray 210 may be made of metal having high thermal conductivity,e.g., aluminum. The ice tray 210 may improve a heat exchange ratebetween water and cold air due to high thermal conductivity.Consequently, the ice tray 210 serves as a type of heat exchanger.Although not illustrated, the back surface of the ice tray 210 may beprovided with cooling ribs or the like for increasing surface areacontact with the cold air.

The cold air guide module 220 functions to guide the cold air suppliedfrom the cooling module to the lower side of the ice tray 210. The coldair guide module 220 is coupled to the discharge duct 310 to form apassage through which the cold air is supplied from the cooling module.The cold air guide module 220 includes cold air guide elements 221 and222 coupled to at least one surface of the discharge duct 310, andincludes a first cold air guide element 221 extending from an uppersurface of the discharge duct 310 and a second cold air guide element222 extending from a lower surface of the discharge duct 310.

The first cold air guide element 221 is coupled between the uppersurface of the discharge duct 310 and a bracket 221 to which the icetray 210 is mounted. The second cold air guide element 222 extends fromthe lower surface of the discharge duct 310 and is spaced apart from theback surface of the ice tray 210. Thus, a cold air passage 225 for coldair flow is formed between the back surface of the ice tray 210 and anupper surface of the second cold air guide element 222.

The cold air guided by the cold air guide elements 221 and 222 flowstoward the back surface of the ice tray 210, and exchanges heat with theice tray 210 so that the water present in the ice tray 210 istransformed into ice.

The ice made in the above manner is dropped into the ice bucket 320disposed beneath the ice tray 210 by the rotation module 230.Specifically, the upper surface of the ice tray 210 may be turned towardthe ice bucket 320 by rotation of a rotary shaft 234, and the ice tray210 may be twisted (e.g., distorted) by contact with a fixed element(not shown) when rotating beyond a specific angle. Consequently, throughthe twisting of the ice tray 210, ice in the ice tray 210 is droppedinto the ice bucket 320.

In addition, a plurality of ejectors (not shown) may be disposed in alongitudinal direction of the rotary shaft 234 so ice is ejected fromthe ice tray 210 by rotation of the ejectors, without the rotation ofthe ice tray 210. The rotary shaft 234 is driven by an ice maker drivingmodule 232, and the ice maker driving module 232 is coupled in the icemaking space 105 by an ice maker fixture 233.

Moreover, the ice tray 210 may be equipped with a deicing heater 231which heats a surface of the ice tray 210 during or before rotation ofthe rotary shaft 234. Ice is separated from the ice tray 210 in a mannerthat melts the surface of the ice in the ice tray 210 with heat from thedeicing heater 231.

The transfer assembly 400 transfers ice toward an ice discharge module600, and may include an auger 410 and an auger motor 420. The auger 410is a rotatable element having blades in a screw or spiral form, and isrotated by the auger motor 420. The auger 410 is disposed in the icebucket 320. Ice collected in the ice bucket 320 may be inserted betweenthe blades of the auger 410 to be transferred toward the ice dischargemodule 600 by rotation of the auger 410. The auger motor 420 is disposedin an auger motor housing 430.

The ice discharge module 600 is connected to a dispenser (not shown)disposed in one of the refrigerating chamber doors 3, and the icetransferred by the transfer assembly 400 is supplied to a user throughthe dispenser according to an activation thereof by the user. Althoughnot illustrated, the ice discharge module 600 has a cutting element forcutting ice into a predetermined size.

FIG. 4 is a planar cross-sectional view conceptually illustrating theice maker in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 4, the full ice detection module 500 detects that iceis collected in the ice bucket 320 beyond a certain extent, that is,detects whether the ice bucket 320 is full of ice. The full icedetection module 500 includes a pair of first and second sensors 510 and520, which are mounted to the rotation module 230 and the cold air guidesection 220, respectively. The sensors 510 and 520 may be photo sensorssuch as infrared sensors, and may be configured as a light-emittingsensor and a light-receiving sensor for instance.

The light-emitting sensor is a sensor configured for emitting lightwhich may be blocked by ice, and the light-receiving sensor is a sensorconfigured for detecting light. When light emitted from thelight-emitting sensor is not received by the light-receiving sensor, itmay be determined that a blocking material, namely ice, is present in apath of light. In an exemplary embodiment, the first sensor 510 is alight-emitting sensor and the second sensor 520 is a light-receivingsensor which are described below.

The heights (e.g., y-axis coordinates) at which the first and secondsensors 510 and 520 of the full ice detection module 500 are mounted tothe rotation module 230 and the cold air guide module 220 vary accordingto the limited amount of ice which may be accommodated in the ice bucket320 (hereinafter, referred to as the “predetermined limited capacity”).The first and second sensors 510 and 520 of the full ice detectionmodule 500 are coupled to the rotation module 230 and the cold air guidemodule 220 at the relevant heights.

The first sensor 510 may be mounted to a lower portion of the ice makerfixture 233 of the rotation module 230 located at one side along thelongitudinal direction (x-axis direction) of the ice tray 210. The firstsensor 510 may be mounted to the ice maker fixture 233 through a firstmounting portion 511 disposed in the ice maker fixture 233. The firstmounting portion 511 may have a groove into which the first sensor 510is inserted therein.

The second sensor 520 are coupled to the other side of the lower portionof the second guide member 222 along the longitudinal direction of theice tray 210. The second sensor 520 is coupled to the second guidemember 222 through a second mounting portion 521 disposed in the secondguide member 222. The second mounting portion 521 may have a groove intowhich the second sensor 520 is inserted therein.

Although the structures in which the first sensor 510 is coupled to therotation member 230 and the second sensor 520 is coupled to the cold airguide section 220 have been described with respect to the abovedescribed embodiment, the positions of the first and second sensors 510and 520 may be reversed.

The first and second sensors 510 and 520 are mounted at diagonal pointson a rectangular portion of a plane (e.g., x-z plane) formed by the backsurface of the ice tray 210. That is, the first and second sensors 510and 520 are mounted at different points on the z-axis. For example, adistance between the first and second sensors 510 and 520 in the z-axisdirection may correspond to the width (e.g., z-axis length) of the coldair guide module 220.

Hereinafter, the operation and results or functions of the ice maker 10according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the ice maker 10 according to an embodiment, cold air generatedthrough the compressor, the condenser, the expansion valve, and theevaporator is supplied to the cooling space 105 via the discharge duct310. The cold air freezes water placed in the ice tray 210 disposed inthe cooling space 105. In this case, since the cold air guide module 220is connected to the discharge duct 310 and extending therefrom, the coldair discharged from the discharge duct 310 moves along the cold airguide module 220.

Referring to FIG. 2, the cold air enters between the first cold airguide element 221 and the second cold air guide element 222 and thenmoves along the cold air passage 225 formed between the back surface ofthe ice tray 210 and the second guide element 222. The cold airexchanges heat with the back surface of the ice tray 210 while movingalong the back surface of the ice tray 210, and cools water in the icetray 210 so as to form ice. The ice made in the ice tray 210 is droppeddownward by rotation of the rotary shaft 234 and may be collected in theice bucket 320 arranged beneath the ice tray 210.

As ice is generated, the amount of ice collected in the ice bucket 320may exceed a predetermined limited capacity of the ice bucket 320. Inthis case, the full ice detection module 500 detects whether or not theamount of ice collected in the ice bucket 320 exceeds the predeterminedlimited capacity of the ice bucket 320.

The first sensor 510 may constantly or periodically emit light, and thelight emitted from the first sensor 510 reaches the second sensor 520located on the diagonal path. When the light passing through thediagonal path is received by the second sensor 520, the amount of icecollected in the ice bucket 320 may be determined to be less than thepredetermined limited capacity of the ice bucket 320.

When ice is accumulates in the ice bucket 320 and exceeds apredetermined height, e.g., to the detection height of the full icedetection module 500, light emitted from the first sensor 510 hits theice and the light is not received by the second sensor 520. Accordingly,a control unit (not shown) determines whether the ice bucket 320 is fullof ice. Then, the control unit stops the driving of the rotation module230 and stops and/or pauses the operation of the components formanufacturing ice.

In the ice maker 10 according to an embodiment, when the full icedetection section 500 is disposed on the back surface of the cold airguide module 220, the lower region of the ice tray 210 overlaps with thelower region of the cold air guide module 220. Therefore, the full icedetection section 500 may effectively detect the ice dropped from theice tray 210.

In addition, since the first and second sensors 510 and 520 of the fullice detection section 500 are disposed at the diagonal points in the icetray 210, a detection region for ice detection is enlarged as comparedto a case where the first and second sensors 510 and 520 of the full icedetection section 500 are mounted in a linear section.

Moreover, since a mechanical full ice detection structure such as adetection lever is replaced with the full ice detection module 500according to the embodiment, the number of parts and assembly processesmay be reduced and thus manufacturing costs are reduced.

Furthermore, since the detection region for detecting whether the icebucket is full of ice is enlarged, factors contributing to malfunctiondue to full ice detection errors are reduced, and thus the ice maker hasimproved reliability.

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing the ice maker according to anembodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of manufacturingthe ice maker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, the above-mentioned ice maker 10 comprisesthe ice making assembly 200, the ice bucket 320, and the transferassembly 400. In order to manufacture the ice maker 10 according to anembodiment, the ice making assembly 200, the ice bucket 320, and thetransfer assembly 400, which constitute the ice maker 10, areindividually manufactured in the known manner (S100). The first sensor510 of the full ice detection module 500 for detecting whether the icebucket 320 is full of ice is mounted to the lower portion of therotation module 230 of the ice making assembly 200, and the secondsensor 520 of the full ice detection section 500 is mounted to the lowerportion of the cold air guide module 220 of the ice making assembly 200(S200).

In this case, the first and second sensors 510 and 520 are mounted atthe diagonal points on a rectangular portion of the plane formed by theback surface of the ice tray 210. The position of the first sensor 510mounted to the rotation module 230 and the position of the second sensor520 mounted to the cold air guide module 220 may be adjusted such thatthe first sensor 510 is optically and/or operatively coupled to thesecond sensor 520 (S300). That is, the positions of the first and secondsensors 510 and 520 may be adjusted such that light emitted from thefirst sensor 510 is received by the second sensor 520.

When the position adjustment of the first and second sensors 510 and 520is completed, the transfer assembly 400 is assembled to one side of theice bucket 320 and the ice making assembly 200 is assembled to the upperside of the ice bucket 320 (S400). The ice maker 10 manufacture may becompleted by additionally assembling the main body 100, the icedischarge module 600, etc., to form the ice maker 10.

The first and second sensors 510 and 520 of the full ice detectionmodule 500 according to the embodiment are mounted to the ice makingassembly 200 and manufactured as a single assembly. Thus, the full icedetection module 500 is mounted to the ice making assembly 200 beforethe assemblies forming the ice maker 10 are assembled to each other.That is, since the full ice detection section 500 components includingthe pair of sensors 510 and 520 and is mounted to the single assembly,the full ice detection section 500 may be easily mounted withoutinterference with the other assemblies.

In addition, the process of adjusting the positions of the first andsecond sensors 510 and 520 in order to optically and/or operativelyinterconnect the first and second sensors 510 and 520 as light-emittingand light-receiving sensors may be easily performed.

In accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention, arefrigerator including an ice maker capable of accurately detectingwhether or not an ice bucket is full of ice is provided.

In addition, a method of manufacturing the ice maker for therefrigerator is provided, in which a full ice detection module is easilymounted to the ice maker.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendisclosed for illustrative purposes, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as definedin the following claims. More particularly, various variations andmodifications are possible in constituent elements of the embodiments.In addition, it is to be understood that differences relevant to thevariations and modifications fall within the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A refrigerator comprising: a case comprising afood storage space; a cooling module configured to generate cold air; adoor disposed on the case to seal the food storage space; and an icemaker installed in at least one of the food storage space and the door,wherein the ice maker comprises: a main body having a cooling space forreceiving the cold air generated by the cooling module; an ice makingassembly comprising: an ice tray disposed in the cooling space togenerate ice, a cold air guide module disposed at a lower side of theice tray and configured to guide the cold air supplied from the coolingmodule to the lower side of the ice tray; and a rotation moduleconfigured for rotating at least one of the ice tray and an ejector forejecting the ice from the ice tray; an ice bucket disposed at a lowerside of the ice making assembly to receive the ice from the ice tray;and a full ice detection module comprising a first sensor coupled to alower portion of the rotation module and a second sensor coupled to alower portion of the cold air guide module, and detecting whether or notthe ice bucket is full by operative interconnection of the first andsecond sensors.
 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein thefirst sensor is inserted into a first mounting portion disposed in thelower portion of the rotation module and the second sensor is insertedinto a second mounting portion disposed in the lower portion of the coldair guide module.
 3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein thefirst and second sensors are coupled at diagonal points on a rectangularportion of a plane formed by a back surface of the ice tray.
 4. Therefrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the cold air is supplied intothe cooling space through a discharge duct, and the cold air guidemodule extends from at least one surface of the discharge duct.
 5. Therefrigerator according to claim 4, wherein the cold air guide modulecomprises: a first cold air guide member extending from an upper surfaceof the discharge duct; and a second cold air guide member extending froma lower surface of the discharge duct, and wherein the second cold airguide member is spaced apart from a back surface of the ice tray,wherein a cold air movement passage is formed between the back surfaceof the ice tray and an upper surface of the second cold air guidemember.
 6. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the firstsensor is a light-emitting sensor and the second sensor is alight-receiving sensor.
 7. A method of manufacturing an ice maker for arefrigerator, the method comprising: manufacturing an ice makingassembly, an ice bucket, and a transfer assembly forming an ice maker;coupling a first sensor of a full ice detection module to a lowerportion of a rotation module of the ice making assembly; coupling asecond sensor of the full ice detection module to a lower portion of acold air guide module of the ice making assembly, wherein the full icedetection module is configured for detecting whether the ice bucket isfull; adjusting a position of the first sensor coupled to the rotationmodule and a position of the second sensor coupled to the cold air guidemodule, wherein the first sensor is operatively coupled to the secondsensor; and assembling the transfer assembly to a side of the ice bucketand assembling the ice making assembly to an upper side of the icebucket.
 8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising:disposing an ice tray at an upper side of the cold air guide module; andcoupling the first and second sensors at diagonal points on arectangular portion of a plane formed by a back surface of the ice tray.9. An apparatus comprising: an ice maker comprising: a main body havinga cooling space for receiving cold air generated by a cooling module; anice making assembly comprising: an ice tray disposed in the coolingspace to generate ice, a cold air guide module disposed at a lower sideof the ice tray and configured to guide the cold air supplied from thecooling module to the lower side of the ice tray; and a rotation moduleconfigured for rotating at least one of the ice tray and an ejector forejecting the ice from the ice tray; an ice bucket disposed at a lowerside of the ice making assembly to receive ice from the ice tray; and afull ice detection module comprising a first sensor coupled to a lowerportion of the rotation module and a second sensor coupled to a lowerportion of the cold air guide module, and detecting whether or not theice bucket is full by operative interconnection of the first and secondsensors.
 10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the firstsensor is inserted into a first mounting portion disposed in the lowerportion of the rotation module and the second sensor is inserted into asecond mounting portion disposed in the lower portion of the cold airguide module.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the firstand second sensors are coupled at diagonal points on a rectangularportion of a plane formed by a back surface of the ice tray.
 12. Theapparatus according to claim 9, wherein the cold air is supplied intothe cooling space through a discharge duct, and the cold air guidemodule extends from at least one surface of the discharge duct.
 13. Theapparatus according to claim 4, wherein the cold air guide modulecomprises: a first cold air guide member extending from an upper surfaceof the discharge duct; and a second cold air guide member extending froma lower surface of the discharge duct, and wherein the second cold airguide member is spaced apart from a back surface of the ice tray,wherein a cold air movement passage is formed between the back surfaceof the ice tray and an upper surface of the second cold air guidemember.
 14. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the first sensoris a light-emitting sensor and the second sensor is a light-receivingsensor.